Eye Defects Due to Toxic Exposure on Military Bases

Drinking water contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals during pregnancy can harm your baby by retarding growth, stunting mental development, and causing birth defects.

Water contaminated with these chemical compounds is a concern for communities near industrial sites in the US where these substances were produced. However, military installations, airbases, civilian airports, naval bases, and wastewater treatment facilities are also sources of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in ground and surface waters.

Exposure to teratogen may cause birth defects; it's an agent that interferes with normal embryonic development, causing birth defects, such as eye malformations.

Our team of experts confirms that teratogens may contain chemicals or toxic substances that have contaminated the air or groundwater at military sites and surrounding communities, making those in the immediate vicinity vulnerable to environmental chemical exposure.

In the regrettable case that your child was born with congenital eye malformations, as a consequence of your stay at a contaminated military base while you were pregnant, you are eligible for compensation.

Pediatric Congenital Ocular Anomalies Caused by Toxic Exposure to Teratogens

It has been found that 20 to 30 percent of all birth defects can be attributed to a multiplex of environmental and genetic factors.

Congenital eye anomalies refer to several different eye malformations that occur during the phase of embryonic development, beginning during the 4th week and continuing until the end of the 8th week.

However, the eye is vulnerable to teratogenic agents even after this period, especially at the time of histogenesis and tissue formation. Some of the most common congenital ocular anomalies include:

• Aniridia - partial or complete absence of the iris in one or both eyes
• Anophthalmia  - uni- or bilateral absence of the eyeball
• Coloboma - an optic fissure in one of the structures of the eye  - iris, retina, lens, or choroid
• Microphthalmia - when one or both eyes are smaller than average
• Optic nerve hypoplasia - when the optic nerve hasn't developed properly or is absent

Exposure to several solvents, petrochemicals, heavy metals, and other industrial chemicals can impair color vision in exposed service members. Color vision deficiency is lacking the ability to see color or differences in colors.

Acquired color vision deficiency, unlike the congenital one, can vary considerably in severity, increasing or decreasing as long as the responsible toxic agent persists and can become irreversible under long-term exposure and/or agent dose.

Call Us if Your Baby Was Born With an Eye Malformation as a Consequence of Toxic Exposure 

Atraxia Law has many years of experience guiding clients through complex legal issues, especially when it comes to chemicals that may have affected human health. Among these are:

• per-and polyfluorinated substances
• acetone
• benzene
• 2-butanone
• carbon tetrachloride
• trichloroethylene (TCE)
• perchloroethylene (PCE)
• chlordane
• 1,1- dichloroethane
• 1,2- dichloroethane
• methylene chloride
• polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)
• tetrachloroethylene
• toluene
• trichloroethylene
• vinyl chloride
• halogenated hydrocarbons
• trihalomethanes
• xylene
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Studies show that exposure to these types of chemical contaminants during pregnancy can have adverse health effects on unborn babies, including pediatric congenital anomalies.

In fact, one out of every 33 babies in the US is born with a birth malformation/defect, according to the Center for Disease Control. As a result, more and more families seek financial compensation from parties responsible for the teratogenic exposure.

If you are a woman whose child was born with congenital eye abnormalities as a result of you being stationed with your husband or alone at a military base on which toxic chemicals were present, while you were pregnant, you are eligible for compensation, which our skillful team of experts will help you recover.

Atraxia Law has the necessary resources to stand up to powerful industries that have caused pregnant women to be exposed to harmful teratogens or chemicals that cause birth defects in children.